Chebyshov Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Honestly the Thenn introduction was one of my favourite parts of the episode. When you're introducing new minor characters at this point, you can't afford for any to be Milquetoast. So the scars and the cannibalism worked for me to make them identifiable. The Thenns are still very savage in the books, but they also have metalworking and a more unified government, which makes them very dangerous. I tend to think the Thenn marriage to Alys will still be in, otherwise there's little point in introducing Styr at all. We'll see I guess, maybe he's just there for flavour for one season, but they don't really have the time to do that imo. Oh, good point about why they even bothered introducing the Thenns. Maybe they'll introduce Sigorn as being a lot less creeptastic if they do keep Alys in? Styr was unsettling, but I loved every second of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tommen Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Honestly the Thenn introduction was one of my favourite parts of the episode. When you're introducing new minor characters at this point, you can't afford for any to be Milquetoast. So the scars and the cannibalism worked for me to make them identifiable. The Thenns are still very savage in the books, but they also have metalworking and a more unified government, which makes them very dangerous. I tend to think the Thenn marriage to Alys will still be in, otherwise there's little point in introducing Styr at all. We'll see I guess, maybe he's just there for flavour for one season, but they don't really have the time to do that imo. I think Styr was important to introduce because they need to build up a fearsome antagonist for Jon to defeat during the Battle. Tormund and Mance survive (presumably) and Ygritte's death will be tragic but not one the audience will want to see. One of the problems I had with the Battle of Blackwater in the books and show (and the Battle of Helm's Deep in LOTR) is that it's this massive setpiece battle where no one important dies. The stakes are kind of low there. I think if there are people lost on both sides (like perhaps Aliser Thorne or Grenn) during the battle, it becomes a much more dramatic sequence. Otherwise, all you've got is a bunch of faceless extras getting filled in with arrows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protar Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I think Styr was important to introduce because they need to build up a fearsome antagonist for Jon to defeat during the Battle. Tormund and Mance survive (presumably) and Ygritte's death will be tragic but not one the audience will want to see. One of the problems I had with the Battle of Blackwater in the books and show (and the Battle of Helm's Deep in LOTR) is that it's this massive setpiece battle where no one important dies. The stakes are kind of low there. I think if there are people lost on both sides (like perhaps Aliser Thorne or Grenn) during the battle, it becomes a much more dramatic sequence. Otherwise, all you've got is a bunch of faceless extras getting filled in with arrows. That is true, although you've got Ygritte dying, possibly Thorne and whoever takes the place as Noye (I'm thinking Grenn). It's possible Styr's just going to be a one-off villain for Jon, but with D+D talking about how they've got to be conservative with characters it seems weird. Hard to make any educated guesses though without TWOW in our hands. Maybe Alys is super important, maybe she isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bored Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The Karstark/Thenn alliance is nothing short of a waste of time so I can see why they thought they had nothing to lose by putting a cannibal twist on them.I love the change though, regardless. They're looking to be deliciously fun as secondary villains. More than likely we're looking at a one season deal if we're being realistic but whatever. As long as they're used well, I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tommen Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 That is true, although you've got Ygritte dying, possibly Thorne and whoever takes the place as Noye (I'm thinking Grenn). It's possible Styr's just going to be a one-off villain for Jon, but with D+D talking about how they've got to be conservative with characters it seems weird. Hard to make any educated guesses though without TWOW in our hands. Maybe Alys is super important, maybe she isn't. We've seen shots of Jon and Styr fighting each other one on one during the battle so my best guess is that Styr loses that interaction. They could certainly have more plans for the Thenns in the future but I think the main priority now is to make them a very dangerous foe for Jon during the battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ella Darklyn Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Just to toss this in, GRRM mentioned this in a comment on his NAB: Re: ThennsWell, fwiw, there are cannibals among the wildlings, that is stated several times in the books. But no, it's not the Thenns, and none of the cannibal wildlings have significant presence in the book. David and Dan basically just combined two wildling sub-groups, the Thenns and the ice river clans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chebyshov Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The Karstark/Thenn alliance is nothing short of a waste of time so I can see why they thought they had nothing to lose by putting a cannibal twist on them.I love the change though, regardless. They're looking to be deliciously fun as secondary villains. More than likely we're looking at a one season deal if we're being realistic but whatever. As long as they're used well, I'll be happy. The creation of a new noble house that allies Free-folk with Notherners was kind of an important thing that Jon did. I'm sure they'e going to cut it, but it likey will have repercussions in the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Desmond Wine's Bane Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The creation of a new noble house that allies Free-folk with Notherners was kind of an important thing that Jon did. I'm sure they'e going to cut it, but it likey will have repercussions in the books. They can just brush it off by manning more ot the castles on the wall. I doubt the marriage would really have that much effect on the whole story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dany's Golden Fleece Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Its going to make Jon' eventual decision to take in the Wildlings look much more questionable and dangerous - you could see why people of the Night's watch would freak out at his decisions. That is admirable of D&D, they are not taking the easy way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onna Lewyys Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I think in addition to giving Jon a true villain to fight during the battle, they also did it to add tension to the free folk's storyline itself, since we'll be following Tormund & Ygritte as major characters now (which I'm thrilled about). It's one thing to just have Tormund say he hates Thenns for some vague/undisclosed reason; but they immediately give him a very solid, understandable reason.Also a good point, GoldenFleece2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rishav Banka Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I hated that the Thenns were made Cannibalistic. Loved their faces though! Those lines on the face and the baldness made them badasses in my book the second they walked onto the screen.I also don't like that Thenns were introduced at all infact. If the wall would have been attacked simply by the wildling we love, then the fight between them and the night's watch could have been an emotional treat. Now obviously people are gonna want the Thenns to die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P. frontalis chiripepe Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 They are cannibals, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are less organized. The way they entered the wildling's camp was pretty structured and disciplined. They may still have a more developed infrastructure than the other wildings, and just happen to eat human meat. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagen of Tronje Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Seems to be cannibal week on TV after Spoiler "Terminus" in TWD. Hannibal would approve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViennaGirl Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 someone mentioned way up the thread that Val probably won't be in the show - why? Because we didn't meet her already? I think we could meet her in the battle if Jon goes to assassinate Mance and she and Dalla are in the tent with the baby. They HAVE to have the babies in the show, because it's the whole entire plot of book 5 (right?). I think we have to have Val! She's so awesome with Queen Selyse... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protar Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 someone mentioned way up the thread that Val probably won't be in the show - why? Because we didn't meet her already? I think we could meet her in the battle if Jon goes to assassinate Mance and she and Dalla are in the tent with the baby. They HAVE to have the babies in the show, because it's the whole entire plot of book 5 (right?). I think we have to have Val! She's so awesome with Queen Selyse... If she was going to be in E9 we would have heard about her casting. She could theoretically be introduced in S5, but that's cutting it very fine to introduce the baby switch plot before Sam is sent off to Oldtown. I guess we'll see whether she's mentioned at all in S4, it's not unreasonable that we wouldn't have heard about her given we only had 3 episodes of Mance in S3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FCOS Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I think it was a pointless change. There are clans that are cannibals mentioned in the book who could have been used instead. It also didn't show off any of their bronze armour or equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Am I the only one that noticed this? Tormund asks Styr how the Thenns were able to find them and Styr nods back at his warg Thenn who's got an owl perched on his shoulder that then flies off the screen. I think the fact that a tribe of cannibalistic warriors who scare the shit out of everybody hang with a guy who wargs into a little owl is both hilarious and awesome. I NEED MORE OWL. I noticed the owl. And yes, more owl is always a good thing. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flou Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Yet another pointless change. If they wanted bad ass cannibals in the show, why not have the real cannibals from the books in the damn show. Seems to me that whole Alys Karstark subplotline will dropped, or she will be married to someone else as I don't see bunch of cannibals settling Karhold. Other than that I really loved the introduction. Wildlings need to be seen more an a threat and really evil. Tormund and Ygritte are hardly evil. And with the way they introduced the Thenns I'm sure the viewers will remember them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakenfist Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 They can easily just change the wilding who marries Alys, and I could see them making it Tormund as an alternative choice in the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesterX Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Those Thenns were some gruesome looking guys. Especially the leader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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